


when night owls can't sleep

by earlgrey_milktea



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: College AU, M/M, copious mentions of misplaced kitchenware, non-specific allusions to mental health issues, roommates au, there's a sunrise if you're looking for some sort of romance??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-04
Updated: 2016-05-04
Packaged: 2018-06-06 10:45:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6750838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/earlgrey_milktea/pseuds/earlgrey_milktea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'it's like 3 am and my roommate is banging around in the kitchen, goodbye my sleep' au</p><p>in which bokuto can't sleep, so naturally, akaashi wakes to keep him company.</p>
            </blockquote>





	when night owls can't sleep

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Polski available: [kiedy nocne sowy nie mogą spać](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10518294) by [wrappedinchocolateblankets](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wrappedinchocolateblankets/pseuds/wrappedinchocolateblankets)



> happy akaboku day!  
> this was meant to be a short drabble but somehow ran away from me and got a little heavy and Too Real. but it's still pretty lighthearted, and extremely cheesy at the end, i promise
> 
> also what the heck is a title

A sudden clanging sound startles Keiji awake. He squints at his closed blinds, but it’s still dark outside. His roommate is an early bird, somehow managing to survive an entire semester of 8 am classes, but even 3:18 in the morning is a little too early for breakfast. 

Keiji contemplates just turning over and going back to sleep. The second year that he signed the lease with is known for being obnoxiously loud at inopportune times, and, aiming for an engineering major, is no stranger to staying up late. At one point Keiji wondered if he even slept, but then he came home early one day to find his roommate passed out on the couch, mouth hanging open and his long limbs sprawled all over the place. It’s kind of cute, in a kindergartener-came-down-too-hard-from-a-sugar-high kind of way.

Another clanging sound interrupts Keiji’s half-asleep drifting, and he sighs. Lying still for another peaceful second, he bids his good night’s sleep a mournful farewell before sitting up and stepping out the door.

The light is on in the kitchen, and he lifts a hand to shield his eyes from the brightness as he rounds the corner. “Bokuto-san...?” He trails off at the sight that greets him.

Pots, pans, plates, bowls, every object imaginable they have in the cupboards have migrated to cover every flat surface in the kitchen. The counters are littered with spoons, forks, knives, what looks like sporks that Bokuto must have stolen from the school cafeteria. Even the floor is taken over by heavier kitchen things, a blender, chopping board, a mixer Keiji still has no idea how to operate. It looks like a hurricane swept through, if hurricanes were neat and orderly with its arrangement of kitchenware.

“What’s going on?”

“Akaashi! Hi!” Bokuto grins at him from the center of the delicate mess, holding a mug in each hand. “I’m re-organizing our kitchen!”

“... Why?”

“Well, I couldn’t sleep, and Oikawa mentioned that rearranging things helps in calming down the brain, or something, so I decided to try it out! You know, for a kid that’s completely obsessed with aliens and crazy conspiracy theories, he actually gives good advice sometimes.”

Keiji rubs his eyes. “Okay, but why are you rearranging kitchen supplies at 3:30 in the morning.”

There’s a sudden bang, and Keiji jolts at the sound. Bokuto has slammed the mugs onto a rare empty spot on the counter, staring at Keiji with a look of utmost horror on his face. 

“Oh my god, did I wake you? Were you asleep? Was it the pans? It was heavier than it looked and I didn’t want to dent the cupboards so I---Do you have a morning class? Oh my god, I’m so sorry, Akaashi, I didn’t mean to---I just, it was getting loud in my head again, and I tried going to sleep but it didn’t work, I couldn’t stay still, and the last time it got this bad Kuroo said I shouldn’t stay in my room by myself, but I didn’t want to bother him because he’s living with Kenma now, and everyone else is asleep and I didn’t want to bother anyone----”

Keiji, now wide awake at Bokuto’s outburst, blinks at the other in surprise and more than a little alarm. It’s his first time seeing his roommate this agitated. Bokuto is always high in energy, almost like a child in his excitement and wonder at most things, which Keiji has hard time comprehending how anyone can be that cheerful all the time without the aid of a caffeinated drink. But this Bokuto is pulling at his hair, talking so fast he’s tripping over his own words, breathing hard, eyes darting all over the place. On closer inspection, Keiji can see the heavy eyebags and the bloodshot eyes, the slight shaking of his fingers. 

“Bokuto-san,” he tries, stepping forward slightly.

“---I’m really sorry, Akaashi, I’ll, I’ll clean up, it wasn’t really working anyway, nothing seems to work, I don’t know---You can go back to sleep, please don’t hate me, I’m sorry, please don’t move out, I’m----”

“Bokuto-san.” Keiji grabs hold of the other boy’s hands, pulling them down from where they were tugging at his hair a little too hard. He doesn’t flinch when gold eyes snap up to meet his, wide and slightly glazed over.

“Let’s go for a walk,” says Keiji quietly.

Bokuto blinks owlishly, once, twice. “What?”

Keiji tilts his head towards the front door. “Let’s get some fresh air. The kitchen thing isn’t really working out, right?” He nudges the older boy towards his own room. “Go put on a jacket. I’ll meet you at the front door.”

Keiji waits until Bokuto obediently goes into his room, before letting out a heavy breath. That was a bit terrifying. He glances around the kitchen, eyeing how perfectly placed everything is despite being displaced from the cupboards, the fork tines all pointing in one direction, the bowls spaced out evenly. He glances at the clock. It’s almost four now. He sighs again. Well. His class doesn’t start until one tomorrow, anyway.

After Bokuto finds a jacket and Keiji puts on a warmer pair of pants, they step out the door and into the quiet neighbourhood. The sky is beginning to turn a greener shade of blue, the last of the stars twinkling weakly above them. The streetlights are still on, and the rest of the world is still asleep.

Keiji glances over at the boy trudging along beside him. Bokuto hasn’t said a word since he re-emerged from his room. He’s staring at his feet, hands swinging aimlessly at his sides. Without his excessive use of hair gel, he looks a lot younger and a lot more susceptible to the harshness of the world. Keiji suddenly feels an overwhelming protectiveness over the older boy.

“Do you usually have trouble sleeping at night?” he asks, keeping his voice muted.

Bokuto nods. It takes him a moment, and when he speaks again, it’s slow. “I try to play games or watch movies or do those math questions they have online, but sometimes it... doesn’t... work.”

“Does it usually work? Math, or tiring your brain out?”

Bokuto nods again. “Sometimes it just gets bad.” He blows out a breath, moving the hair hanging in his eyes. “Sorry, Akaashi. It’s not your problem.”

“It’s okay,” Keiji tells him, and he’s surprised to realize that it’s not a lie. He doesn’t understand his roommate despite having lived with the guy for an entire semester, but he doesn’t dislike the guy. Bokuto is loud, impulsive, extroverted, everything that Keiji is not, but Bokuto is also kind, passionate, and caring. Keiji doesn’t want Bokuto to stay like this, all uncharacteristically quiet, all withdrawn and sad and lost.

“I’ve never seen the sunrise here,” Keiji says, after they’ve walked some distance in a companionable silence. 

Bokuto seems to perk up a little. “I know a good spot!”

“Let’s see it.” Keiji smiles at him. He feels some weight that he wasn’t even aware of lift off his chest when Bokuto smiles back.

Bokuto leads him past the 7-11 and the train station they take to their university. Keiji follows as they head towards the riverbank, where there’s an overpass bridge, and Bokuto leads him right up the bridge, just in time for the sun to peek over the sleepy buildings in the distance.

“It’s beautiful,” Keiji says quietly.

There’s a small smile on Bokuto’s face, soft like the myriad of oranges and yellows washing the skyscrapers and roads. Keiji breathes out slowly, before leaning over to knock his shoulder against the older boy.

“Feeling better?”

Bokuto nods. He ducks his head, before peeking over at Keiji, almost shyly. “Thanks, Akaashi. You’re a good person.”

He shakes his head. “Just a good friend.”

Bokuto beams. “We’re friends?”

“Yes.” Keiji smiles at him. “So next time you can’t sleep again, don’t be afraid to bother me, okay?”

They walk home to the sound of the city waking up, walking close enough for their arms to brush against each other, twin smiles lighting their faces.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm always in the bokuaka mood, all day every day, 24 hours, 7 days a week:  
> tumblr [@puddingcatbae](http://puddingcatbae.tumblr.com)  
> twitter [@puddingcatbae](http://twitter.com/puddingcatbae)


End file.
